What makes activism sustainable and accessible? Not just ideologically or politically, but physically, emotionally, and some would ask, spiritually? How do actors in social justice movements enact care for movement survival? Conversely, when might care serve to depoliticize or otherwise undermine political action? How do race, gender, sexuality, class and other aspects of identity shape the ways we approach these questions? Including the contested topics of burnout and self-care, questions of movement survival and activist sustainability touch on Marxist, Black, and Disabled feminisms, queer theory, the sociology of health and illness, critical theory, and other theoretical lineages. This course takes as its starting points Sarah Ahmed's concept of feminist "killjoy survival kits," Black feminist epistemology, adrienne marie brown's Pleasure Activism, and the sociology of lay health experiences. Ultimately, this course will analyze, theorize, and critique care in activism and social movements. At the same time, it will create space to discern what our own visions of sustainable, politically committed wellbeing look like.
Course Attributes: